The Boy, The Man & The Moon
by Humbuggy
Summary: "Hold on to your humanity, Kid, and never let it go. For without it, you are nothing but a beast." When he was ten, Remus was given the most valuable warning he could ever learn. It would shape who he was and who he would become, thanks to a stranger who he would never know the name of, and never be able to thank. No paring, Philosphical themes on humanity. One shot.


This is just a small short Drabbley peice of flash fiction I did and thought that I may as well put it up.

Strictly Oneshot: I've had this sitting on my laptop for a while now, and have felt no complusion to add more.

No rating for: No Language, no sex, no violence.

PG kids!

Disclaimer: I do not own.

No pairing, Philosophy on humanity, Were Kid-Remus!

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Leaves rattled in the gutter as the wind tossed the red gold foliage around; carrying them along in the air and making the trees scrape their branches together. Remus Lupin shrugged his coat tighter around him, bright red scarf flapping behind him, library bag banging awkwardly at his shins as he strode hurriedly home. As the book loaded bag thudded at his legs again, he wished that he'd not insisted on walking back from the library because he was ten, and old enough to walk the distance across the park to his house.

One of his shoelaces was loose, and he stopped by the pond to retie it. Huddling in the middle of the icy grey water, the ducks ignored the crusts being thrown at them by the man already there. The man sighed and threw the last piece into the water. It sunk slowly as he watched; hands jammed into to the pockets of shabby beige trench coat, collar upturned and his neck wrapped tightly in a brown scarf. He had not seemed to have noticed Remus, but now he commented, "Full Moon tonight."

"Yeah," Said Remus, as he bent over to retie the other lace, it was slightly loose, "I wish it weren't."

The man turned to Remus, and Remus could see the man's amber eyes and the scars that moved into his dirty blond hair, claw marks. The breeze carried the man's scent to Remus, and he stiffened; the wolf, close to the surface of his mind, recognised him as kin.

"_Werewolf_." Remus breathed, as amber eyes met amber eyes. No normal person would have heard this remark, but with the wolf close to the surface, heightening the senses, the man could, and did.

The man nodded shortly, turning to look at the pond again. "Yes." He looked at Remus again, sorrow warring with shame showed in his eyes for a moment, before a mask of indifference passed over his face as he locked his emotions down. "You're young for the curse."

A muscle jumped in Remus's jaw; his temper frayed faster just before full moon, and he didn't like the way the man was indifferent to the fact the Remus was a monster. His young voice was unnaturally bitter, with the causticness of an old man. "Greyback's speciality, He enjoys making monsters. Like me. " Sarcasm was the wolf's exploit, otherwise Remus was naturally soft spoken and gentle; he kept a hold on his temper out of necessity, and a fear of letting the wolf take him over.

The breeze moved leaves in the trees and the man scuffed his boot on the ground, looking up at the tossing branches. When he spoke, his voice was light, as if he was talking about the weather.

"A story goes that a horrendous beast was attacking the village, destroying homes, killing its people and eating them with terrible gleeful joy. In terror the townspeople called out 'Monster!' When it heard their fright filled cries, the beast dropped the girl it was about to eat and looked over its shoulder in fear; it did not realise that the townspeople were talking about its-self."

Remus frowned; small wrinkles appearing on his already scarred face, further creasing it. "I don't understand."

The man shoved his hands further into his pockets, and muttered something suspiciously like, 'of course not.'

The wolf snapped beneath his mind and Remus couldn't help but glare a bit. He had to go home, it was only an hour or two before dusk, and this man was telling stupid stories and being indifferent to the fact that like him, Remus was a monster.

The man sighed, and then spoke again, louder. "The fact you think you're a monster, only further highlights the fact that you're not, and won't be. A monster is someone who thinks that what they do is right, and holds no remorse for who, and what they are. Fenrir Greyback is a monster, because he delights in the wolf, and looks forward to the full moons with something akin to eager glee. He does not regret biting you, if anything he looks back at it in pleasure." A hint of challenge entered his voice as he asked, "Do you relish the wolf? Do you look forward to the full moon and the wolf's pleasure in killing and turning people?"

"No!" Shouted Remus, eyes wide and horrified. "How can you say that? I – I, No! I'm a monster; of course I don't look forward to the full moon!"

The man nodded with brusque satisfaction. "It says that you're human, like me, who has had something forced on them that you can't help, and that they refuse to give into it, that they refuse to give up on their humanity. Greyback is the true monster, and like other monsters, he wishes to make more of them, just like him. The only way that you can defeat him is by proving him wrong."

The breeze ran over them, insistently. The ends of the man's scarf flapped, eager to follow the tricky wind. The man did not move, only blinking the ends of his dirty blond hair out of his eyes.

"And how do I do that?" Remus demanded, his eyes flashed gold, the wolf again, and he quickly realised that he was getting far too angry. He pulled his coat tighter towards him, his hand tightening on the strap of his bag; his knuckles white. "How do I prove him wrong? Can you tell me that? Hunt him down, become a dark creature hunter?"

"Your humanity, that is how."

"Humanity?" Remus's voice was flat, sceptical and unbelieving.

"Yes."

Suddenly, the man whirled, all masks dropped away, and his amber eyes were insistent, and when he spoke, his voice was passionate and fierce. "Hold on to it boy. Hold onto your humanity and never let it go, for it is the most precious thing that you have. Fight the wolf with every breath, for it will take you, and all that you love."

Remus stared up at him; the fierce creature's fervour and intensity were a world away from the indifferent man who told him that he was young for the curse. All of Remus's bravado and antagonism was stripped from him.

"And If I can't?" he asked, voice trembling.

The man was unyielding as he said, "Then you will succumb to the wolf, and it will steal your heart and soul, it will pervade your nature until you become less than what you are. You will lose your humanity, and that is the worst thing that can happen to you, worse than death and worse than life itself."

His words seemed to echo tinnily, rattling down from a long metal pipe, drawn from a dark dead place. Crumpled leaves rattled like paper skin, and the clacking branches of the trees were dry old bones. The wind pulled at the Remus's scarf, and it flapped like spilt blood in the very corner of his sight. He swallowed, throat dry, lips dry, and eyes latching on desperately to the tall ragged figure.

The man drew another breath and, from a metal barrel rolling with old fears and broken memories, spoke with cruel finality "And then once you have lost all that you love, when the wolf is in your eyes with blood on your breath and murder in your soul. Then you will be a monster. Then you will be alone in your tower of death and your kennel of hate. Then you will be the monster, just like you always thought you would be. Hold onto your humanity, for it is the only thing that matters in your life."

He drew back, face closing and inscrutable. Mask back in place, he nodded briskly once. "Remember that, kid. Take it from one who knows." His coat swirled as he turned and left, dead leaves crunching and his words still rattling around Remus's bones.

Remus's whole frame trembled like a skimmed tambourine, his heart went skitter-scatter and the scarf flapped in the corner of his vision. Remus suddenly hated red. With a violent snarl, he ripped the scarf off him and threw it away from him. It landed a small way out from him, landing on the leaves with a slight crinkling sound. He stared at it, trembling for a little while, before he forced himself to go pick it up. His mother would be unhappy if he lost it, deliberately or not, and he shoved it in his bag. He didn't want to see the stupid thing again. He could ask his mother to knit him a new one, a blue one, for his birthday. He'd be turning eleven.

Remus tightened his coat around him, and headed for home. It would be dark soon, he'd stalled enough, and his family would be worried. He hastened his pace. He didn't want there to be the slightest chance that the moon would rise before he was safe and chained in the basement.

That day had a lasting effect on Remus; there would never be the chance that he would lose his humanity, the most important thing in the world. He would hold onto that, he was a monster, but only if he let Greyback win. He would fear losing his humanity more than anything else in the world, it would become the most precious thing to him- humanity and all that came with being human- due to a stranger that Remus would never know the name of, and never be able to thank.

Finis.

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Thanks to everyone who read and reveiwed, or faved and author watched! I love you all.

This was something that just crawled out of the recesses of my mind, so forgivness for the strange theme?

Love, Humbuggy


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